Posts made in June, 2016

Humans have been racing everything and everyone ever since we became capable to walk, whether it is dogs, horses, or automobiles; people love to race. It is not surprising that automobile racing has become the worlds largest motor sport with its loud engines, fast speeds, and adrenaline pumping maneuvers. However, due to the accessibility of cars, many young adults and teenagers have taken racing to the streets. These races are not your “Fast and Furious” style racing, where they seem to expertly close down intersections for their races and execute precise technical passes with Vin Diesel swagger. These races take place on regular neighborhood roads, interstates, and just about every where a police officer is not parked, and are driven by kids who just got their licenses or by people with a substantial driving record. I would know, I used to be both.

Street racing is wildly dangerous even for professional drivers, there is simply no way predict what might happen next on a public road. Recently in Boston, a car drag racing on a small road jumped the curb and hit a pedestrian and proceeded to run from the scene. Police have been unable to catch the driver who escaped in another vehicle. A Boston car accident lawyer would regard this case as a reckless driving accident due to its speeding, and the drivers failure to yield and could face jail time. Similarly in Rhode Island, seven young adults with a median age of 21 were charged with reckless driving in association with road racing that resulted in a death of one of the passengers that were racing. A Rhode Island car accident lawyer would be well aware that these types of fatal accidents happen all the time, and it is a wonder that it doesn’t happen more often with the frequency of street racing. The latter racers are facing serious charges. So for safety of everybody on the road, please keep it on the track.

When spending money to buy any product, it is well expected that the product be both functional to its duty and be safe. Unfortunately, that is not the case for a lot of products that we see on the market today. From statistics recently released by a independent study, over the past 30 years Volkswagen, a world dominating manufacturer, has had a recall rate of approximately 1.06. This implies that of the 9.7 million cars that they have sold since 1980, 10.2 million vehicles have been recalled at some point. Even world leading auto manufacturers create and build unsafe products all the time, despite the auto industry being one of the most heavily regulated and restricted industries in the world today. According to Massachusetts personal injury attorney’s, a defective vehicle will undoubtedly increase the likelihood of fatal crashes, create unnecessary financial burdens, and often times lead to long personal injury lawsuits.

It is very likely that you will spend some time in or at least interact with a motor vehicle everyday, and many of those vehicles have been subject to one or many recalls. Furthermore, most car owners never even realize their vehicle may have been recalled. Currently, the established procedure for notifying car owners of a defect by NHTSA regulation is via first class mail. With today’s advancing technological culture, first class mail is a rather dated delivery method especially for a notice as important as an unsafe product. Houston based law firm Williams Kherker, classifies automobile defects as a product liability case and recommends immediate action if harm is presented. Product liability cases falls under civil tort law and and both compensatory and punitive damages can be rewarded for vehicle defects. In major recalls from manufacturers such as the recent Volkswagen diesel scandal, it is very likely for a consumer to receive some form of compensation for the harm inflicted by a defected product. Car buyers need to stay informed on whether their vehicle has been recalled to prevent the dangers of a unsafe product.

Since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it has been “unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise to discriminate against any individual”. Despite having antidiscrimination laws for over 52 years now, racial discrimination in the workplace is still seen disappointingly frequently. The EEOC states that nearly 100,000 discrimination cases were brought up in the United States in 2014, of which 35% is constituted by racial allegations.

There exists two types of discrimination as cited from Civil Rights Act of 1964, disparate treatment and disparate impact. The former is defined when an individual of a protected group is specifically targeted to be treated unfairly. Disparate treatment includes any direct racial slurs, offensive racial acts, or anything with derogative racial intent. According to New York racial discrimination lawyers of Cary Kane LLP, disparate impact includes all nonessential practices or policies that discriminate against protected groups. Disparate impact proves to be more difficult for employers to navigate as it does not focus on discriminatory intent, because of this racially discriminating policies can be enacted inadvertently or be misapplied by management that could create a fully justifiable discrimination case.

All complaints and allegations of racial or any discrimination in the workplace should be sent to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where they will notify the employer that a complaint has been received and a full investigation will commence. If the EEOC deems there is a viable case for discrimination they will grant the right to sue in federal court. The consequences of a racial discrimination case for a company can be detrimental as fines and penalties can be applied as well as immense litigation costs and creation of a bad public image. Racial discrimination is still a very real thing in our society and with the moral and financial implications of it; companies should take an active step to prevent it.

Workplace injuries are bound to occur, they happen every day, everywhere, at every job. Whether it is a simple papercut or a traumatic fall while lifting a heavy box, workplace injuries happen all the time and with frivolous lawsuits becoming increasingly common in our society, employers must take preventive action to reduce these costly accidents.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million injuries and illnesses were seen in 2014 which continues a declining trend since 2012. This decline is a step in the right direction but there are still many ways to prevent workplace injuries that can be adopted by organizations, such as more workplace safety training, higher safety standards for employees, and even pre-employment testing. New tactics like these are continually reducing workplace injuries and some companies are going even further by introducing new ways of functional employment testing that can determine the probability of potential hires to be able to complete job specific tasks. One such company, WorkSTEPS, will send professional job analysists to conduct an on-site job analysis so that they can determine physical benchmarks that each employee should possess in order to perform the job efficiently. Innovations like these unceasingly continue to reduce the likelihood for workplace injuries, creating a much safer environment for people to not only work but live in.

It is not uncommon for a typical person to spend more time at work then with their family in a given day, because of this workplace safety is ever more important and should be held in a higher regard than it is now. However, it is not solely the employer’s responsibility for promoting workplace safety; employees themselves clearly hold a large stake in their own well-being and must be able to identify any hazardous work conditions and find ways to avoid them. Remember a safe workplace is a happy workplace, well at least happier.

Divorces are a emotionally taxing experience for everyone involved, taking many lawyers, a lot of time, money, and having to conduct many uncomfortable conversations. Currently almost 30% of Americans have a criminal background and with divorce rates nearing 50%, there remains a strong likelihood that you or someone you know may fall under both of these categories. A criminal charge or record can affect many divorce proceedings especially when divorces are contested or when both spouses are in vast disagreement. Contested divorces are the most extreme and complicated divorce proceeding and it is exponentially more demanding when children are involved. While minor offenses are unlikely to affect any contested divorce proceedings, a spouse with either a violent or other higher level offense criminal record becomes much less likely to win out on a divorce.

Domestic violence cases are largely damaging as courts actively look to protect the abused spouse. According to Wisconsin law firm, Milwaukee criminal defense lawyers of Kohler Hart Powell, SC, domestic violence can include, battery, loud arguing, use of profanity, or the destruction of property. Domestic violence divorces usually include longer court proceedings and over 20 states have policies against joint custody in cases involving domestic violence. A criminal charge can greatly affect one’s divorce proceedings, violent or crimes involving children are even more detrimental to any hopes of child custody. In order to protect your rights to your children as a violent offender, it is recommended by Fort Worth divorce lawyers that a couple be able to work out and agree on specific roles for each parent to play in the upbringing of their children.

Everybody knows that guns are loud. Real loud. Gunshots can be heard miles away and are often around 150-160 decibels or louder than that of a fighter jet at launch. This high noise level can cause gun enthusiasts many headaches as they do not want a gunshot to frighten neighbors or have police forces sent their way because of an annoying raccoon. Most attachable suppressors are bulky, expensive and inconvenient to carry around for everybody who is not a black ops sniper, and a lot of people do not even know that suppressors are legal in their state. However, with the invention of integrally suppressed barrels, gun owners can now replace their existing gun barrels with much quieter ones and not alter the stock dimensions of their firearm. These new advanced barrels can drastically reduce rifle shot decibel levels down to around 120-130 dB which in reference is about as loud as a large balloon popping. As well as reducing sound levels, integrally suppressed barrels can also lower recoil levels nearly 40% for some rifles which will concurrently improve accuracy across multiple shots, furthermore these new barrels can still be serviced like a conventional gun barrel.

There is a safety concern with these new type of barrels, many people found comfort in the loudness of firearms as they alerted everybody nearby that a gun has been fired or that someone may be in possible danger, but many states currently still allow for suppressed firearms as long as they follow NFA rules. Guns have been around for hundreds of years and throughout all that time guns have remained very loud despite vast improvements in all other aspects of the firearm. From computer fans to cars, everything in this world is getting quieter and quieter it would only make sense that guns should too.

Little trust can be had when visits to the dentist include clumsy hygienists prodding around your mouth with pointy pins, and it is understandable that some people may have anxiety or negative feelings towards visiting a dentist. Although it is recommended that you visit your dentist once or twice a year for your annual cleaning and checkup, it is estimated that 9-15% of the US population experience anxiety or fear when visiting the dentist. These fears often lead victims to completely omit visiting the dentist and could be detrimental towards their oral health. With the field of dentistry advancing faster than it ever has, even the most anxiety filled patients should now be able to feel calm and relaxed with sedation dentistry. Sedation dentistry is the act of applying varying amounts of sedatives to patients with anxiety so that they can undergo normal dental procedures. Sedation dentistry has become much more popular in recent years and dentists trained with sedatives are becoming widely accessible and easier to contact.

According to Leander dentists, patients undergoing sedation dentistry often suffer from a multitude of symptoms including sensitive teeth, a strong gag reflex, or simple anxiety; due to these symptoms some patients can only visit the dentist while under sedatives. These sedatives range from weak to strong and patients are typically awake and conscious during procedures. Sedation dentistry is proven to be safe when administered correctly by experienced dentists and with prices ranging from 50-500 dollars sedatives are not as expensive as some people might think and it is becoming ever more affordable for the everyday person. Oral hygiene is immensely important for ones overall health and visiting your dentist annually should not be neglected because of simple fears. Good dental hygiene can help prevent other symptoms such as dental trauma and concussions, as described by Ali Mokaram. With affordable sedation dentistry, everybody should be able to enjoy a clean and healthy mouth!